<p>Mumbai: The ongoing Israel-Iran conflict will significantly impact India’s economy for the months ahead, veteran politician and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder-president Prakash Ambedkar said urging the Centre to diversify our oil contracts to safeguard ourselves from the Middle East disruptions.</p><p>The lawyer-politician-activist Ambedkar (70), a two-time Lok Sabha MP and one-term Rajya Sabha MP, is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of Constitution.</p><p>"The conflict has increased the global crude oil prices sharply. India is the world’s third-largest crude importer, and highly vulnerable to rising oil prices. Moreover, if the conflict escalates, oil trade will be delayed and shipments would rise. All this will result in an increase in oil prices,” he said amid the emerging situation.</p>.Explained | How close is Iran to having nuclear weapons?.<p>“When oil prices will go up, Indian refiners will need more dollars to buy it. This increases demand for dollars, weakens the rupee, and makes oil even more costly. As a result, the current account deficit grows in a repeating cycle, straining the country’s finances and economy,” he said. </p><p>According to Ambedkar, the Israel-Iran conflict will have a ripple effect on prices and supply chain of sectors directly and indirectly linked to crude oil on multiple sectors.</p><p>He also urged the government to cap fuel prices temporarily through calibrated excise duty cuts or subsidies to prevent inflation from surging. “RBI should intervene in the forex market to reduce excessive rupee volatility,” he said.</p>
<p>Mumbai: The ongoing Israel-Iran conflict will significantly impact India’s economy for the months ahead, veteran politician and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founder-president Prakash Ambedkar said urging the Centre to diversify our oil contracts to safeguard ourselves from the Middle East disruptions.</p><p>The lawyer-politician-activist Ambedkar (70), a two-time Lok Sabha MP and one-term Rajya Sabha MP, is the grandson of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of Constitution.</p><p>"The conflict has increased the global crude oil prices sharply. India is the world’s third-largest crude importer, and highly vulnerable to rising oil prices. Moreover, if the conflict escalates, oil trade will be delayed and shipments would rise. All this will result in an increase in oil prices,” he said amid the emerging situation.</p>.Explained | How close is Iran to having nuclear weapons?.<p>“When oil prices will go up, Indian refiners will need more dollars to buy it. This increases demand for dollars, weakens the rupee, and makes oil even more costly. As a result, the current account deficit grows in a repeating cycle, straining the country’s finances and economy,” he said. </p><p>According to Ambedkar, the Israel-Iran conflict will have a ripple effect on prices and supply chain of sectors directly and indirectly linked to crude oil on multiple sectors.</p><p>He also urged the government to cap fuel prices temporarily through calibrated excise duty cuts or subsidies to prevent inflation from surging. “RBI should intervene in the forex market to reduce excessive rupee volatility,” he said.</p>